


Hope For The Missing Piece

by praesaepe



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: Angst, Gen, Post Faceless Ones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-02
Updated: 2013-10-02
Packaged: 2017-12-28 06:16:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/988686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/praesaepe/pseuds/praesaepe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“There were tears running down her face, and it was like a part of her had been cut out, somewhere in her belly, and her thoughts were frozen in her mind.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hope For The Missing Piece

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ikolism](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikolism/gifts).



> So basically this is for my friend [Holly's](http://ikolism.tumblr.com/) birthday  
> There's never enough SP fic in the world, so I made a little contribution :)  
> This is kind of post-Faceless Ones, between Skulduggery going through the portal and Wreath meeting her in the graveyard

Skulduggery being gone was unbearable. Something essential was gone, something part of who she was. She had estranged herself from her parents- not that they had known, of course. Her reflection had been taking her place, so she was acting the same as far as they knew.

She stayed in her room as much as she could. She had gone to Gordon's house a few times, reported the news to Gordon's Echo. He was upset. He had known Skulduggery far longer than her; in fact, he had known Skulduggery since before she was born.

She knew her ache was far deeper than his, though.

She went through the days with a constant ache in her chest and an emptiness in what made up her. I was like a wound that didn't heal and kept bleeding. At times emotion would overwhelm her and she would curl up on her bed and not move for hours, feigning sleep if her mother came to check on her.

She never cried.

She seemed incapable of tears. No matter what she felt, her eyes stayed dry.

A week went by before she was summoned to the Sanctuary and told that she was no longer a fugitive.

 _A good thing, I guess_ , she thought dully.

Another week went by before Solomon Wreath told her to meet him in the graveyard.

She didn't know why Wreath asked to meet her. She wasn't surprised by the location, but she honestly didn't know what Wreath wanted.

It was small talk, or some equivalent of it, at first. Her new non-fugitive status, the lack of mention of Skulduggery's heroism, and an attempt to get her to become a Necromancer. Then the conversation became serious.

"Well, you want to get Skulduggery back, don't you?" Valkyrie immediately snapped to attention. Even as she narrowed her eyes suspiciously, a small glimmer of hope began to glow and warm her inside.

"Skulduggery's gone," she said. She could see the beginning of an uncharacteristic smile creeping onto Wreath's face. She didn't like it.

"Not necessarily."

"The gateway is closed."

"Actually, I don't think it is." Wheels began grinding in her mind, but she made an attempt to shut them down. She was overworked and wanted to get home. Wreath needed to get to the point. She told him as much. He continued dragging her along, making her explain the Isthmus Anchor. She also told him there was nothing to use as an Isthmus Anchor, because the Grotesquery had gone through the portal with Skulduggery.

“It doesn't have to be an object that links to the Faceless Ones," Wreath said. "It just has to link to something in that reality." Things began to click. She looked at Wreath curiously.

"Like what?"

"Like Skulduggery." Her gaze was skeptical now.

"Mr. Wreath..." Even as Wreath spoke, it all slid into place.

 _Skulduggery's head_. He had lost it years ago, and now it was the last thing that could help her save him. Unbridled joy swept through her. She could get him back.

It was quickly followed by a wave of suspicion. What did Wreath want from her?

She wasn't surprised when he said he wanted her. She'd let him have her, temporarily. She needed him to get Skulduggery back.

She left the graveyard, more determined than she had ever been in her life.


End file.
